critical thinking movies on netflix

24 Best Philosophical Movies on Netflix (August 2024)

We live in circles, in loops, to be precise! We are moving from one instant, one action, or one place to another, only to return to that action or place again. In other words, the world functions in closed, fast-moving, infinite loops. There are always moments that make you want to slow down or pause and reflect on this loop structure of our lives.

Watching a ‘ philosophical movie ‘ is an effective way to do this mental exercise.’ However, there is no telling how a movie can affect you philosophically since, more than a genre, philosophy is how a person perceives a particular film. You can learn about leadership from the ‘Transformers’ movies just as you can learn about the importance of family from the ‘Fast and Furious’ movies, although it is advised not to go about robbing banks for it. But yes, we are talking about those movies that can have a life-changing effect on you, and many great films in the genre are presently available on Netflix.

24. Penguin Bloom (2020)

Starring Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Griffin Murray-Johnston, and Felix Cameron, ‘penguin Bloom’ is an Australian drama directed by Glendyn Ivin. It follows wife/mother Sam Bloom, whose fall from a balcony causes her partial paralysis, thereby disallowing her from doing what she loves most: surfing. As she distances herself from her family, her kids bring home an injured magpie they name Penguin. As the magpie heals, it inspires Sam to find the strength to come out of her hopeless self until the day the bird flies away, and she finally says, “I’m better.” The film is based on the book of the same name by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive. The book, in turn, is based on the true story of the Bloom family’s interactions with an Australian magpie. You can watch the film here .

23. Jesus Revolution (2023)

Based on the eponymous autobiographical book co-written by pastor/evangelist Greg Laurie, ‘Jesus Revolution’ showcases the Jesus movement that took place in 1960s California. We follow noted evangelist/hippie Lonnie Frisbee, who helped Pastor Chuck Smith get over his apprehensions regarding the apparently lost youth and allow them into the latter’s church, Calvary Chapel. This eventually led to the titular revolution and the Big Bang of the Calvary Chapel, which made news across the country due to its ever-increasing membership. Directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, the ‘Jesus Revolution’ cast includes Jonathan Roumie, Joel Courtney, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Grace Barlow, Paras Patel, and Julia Campbell. You can watch the film here .

20. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)

‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ is based on the memoir by Malawian inventor/author William Kamkwamba and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also stars in it. The film centers on William (Maxwell Simba), whose love for machines eventually leads him to make a windmill that powers his drought-affected village’s only water pump, bringing water to his village. However, his journey wasn’t easy, as he had to go against his father (Ejiofor) to do what he believed was necessary.

‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’ offers a philosophical take on a father-son relationship while addressing the importance of self-belief, whose undertones are incorporated in the film. Thus, while on the surface level, the film shows the hardship of life, there is a strong undercurrent of faith. You can watch the film here .

21. I Can Only Imagine (2018)

This is a biographical drama based on the life of MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard (played by J. Michael Finley) and his relationship with his abusive father, Arthur Millard (played by Dennis Quaid). It is this relationship that would ultimately make him pen the song ‘I Can Only Imagine,’ which would go on to become the best-selling Christian single of all time. The film shows the creation of the song as well. Other than Finley and Quaid, the cast of ‘I Can Only Imagine’ includes Madeline Carroll, Cloris Leachman, and Amy Grant. You can watch it here .

20. All Together Now (2020)

Directed by Brett Haley, ‘All Together Now’ is based on the novel “Sorta Like a Rockstar” by Matthew Quick. Contrary to the title, the life of optimistic and kind-hearted high schooler Amber Appleton (Auli’i Cravalho) is filled with loneliness. Her father is dead, her mother (Justina Machado) has an abusive boyfriend, and she and her mother live on a school bus that the latter drives. While showcasing the hardships that Amber undertakes, including working at a donut shop, teaching, and working at an old age home, the film also keeps on reminding us of her kind soul that makes her help those in need when she needs it the most. Whether she is able to achieve her dream amidst her obstacles is what we find out in this emotionally draining yet heartfelt drama. You can watch it here .

19. White Noise (2022)

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach , ‘ White Noise ’ is an absurdist drama film. The plot revolves around Jack Gladney ( Adam Driver ), who has created “Hitler studies,” the subject he teaches at the university, though he does not understand German. Jack lives with his wife, Babette, and the four children they have between them. When one of Jack’s colleagues, Murray Siskind, approaches him to ask for his help in developing a unique field of study based on Elvis Presley, he acquiesces. The quiet life of the townsfolk is interrupted following a train accident that releases harmful gasses in the air, prompting the authorities to conduct a mass evacuation. After exposure to the chemical waste, Jack believes that he will die, which impacts his subsequent actions. You can watch the movie here .

18. Marriage Story (2019)

Starring Scarlett Johansson , Adam Driver, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta. ‘ Marriage Story ‘ is a drama movie directed, written, and co-produced by Noah Baumbach. It centers upon the complicated relationship of an actress and her well-accomplished stage director husband. After trying counseling to settle their marital troubles, the couple fails to resolve their issues, and their problems continue to persist. While ‘Marriage Story’ does not entirely capture the complexities of the husband-wife relationship, it does give an intimate understanding of conflicts that often arise when a couple falls out of love. You may watch the film here .

17. Irreplaceable You (2018)

Directed by Stephanie Laing, ‘Irreplaceable You’ is a story about the relationship of two characters who have been friends since childhood. Abbie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Sam (Michiel Huisman) have a happy life in New York City until one day, it is revealed that Abbie has been diagnosed with cancer. As soon as this news comes to light, Abbie is of the opinion that she needs to find a new person with whom Sam can fall in love. She takes upon the responsibility to look for such a person. As she goes about doing so, Abbie meets several people who become important influences on her life. They teach her that it is important to live to one’s heart’s content no matter how little time we have in our hands. This film gives us a positive philosophical perception of death as something not to be feared and to be taken as another part of life. Feel free to check out the movie here .

16. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

‘Black Mirror’ is no doubt one of the most eye-opening TV shows we have ever seen. This series has, through its unique stories, opened our eyes to the various horrors the technologies around us can give rise to. When the makers released their film ‘Bandersnatch,’ expectations were sky-high because the film promised a movie-watching experience unlike anything we had ever seen before. The story of the film centers around a video game developer who, inspired by a book called Bandersnatch, wants to adapt it into a game where the player will get to decide how the storyline progresses. As he keeps developing the game, this character understands that even his life is not under his control. And who is controlling his life? It is us, the viewers. You can check out the film here .

15. End Game (2018)

Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, ‘End Game’ is a short documentary that sheds light on palliative care and offers profound insights into the shortness of human life and the harsh reality of death. Following some of the most dedicated and visionary medical practitioners who are constantly fighting the battle of life and death with their patients, ‘End Game’ turns its attention towards terminally ill patients in a San Franciso hospital. While offering people much-needed moral and medicinal support, some of these doctors have taken the daunting task of changing the general outlook on death and life. You can watch ‘End Game’ here .

14. Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Based on Mundruczó and Wéber’s stage play, ‘Pieces of a Woman’ is a drama movie that follows the Boston couple Martha and Sean, who decide to have a home birth despite the risks. Unfortunately, things go well on the day of delivery, and the couple ends up losing their child. While Martha’s mother files a court case against the midwife, Eva, the protagonist, is overtaken by grief and suffering. The movie delves deeper into sensitive subjects like child loss and its repercussions while offering a compassionate understanding of the pain that parents go through when they lose their children. You may watch it here .

13. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Inspired by Iain Reid’s novel, ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ is a psychological thriller film directed and written by Charlie Kaufman. The Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley starrer revolves around a young woman who tags along with her boyfriend on a road trip to the latter’s parents. Sadly, the couple gets stuck at their destination due to a snowstorm, and the protagonist is forced to spend the rest of the time with her boyfriend’s family. The experience has a strange effect on her as she begins to question her identity and relationship. You may watch ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ here .

12. Private Life (2018)

Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn star in this Netflix original film, which is extremely important and relevant in today’s world. The two leading actors play the roles of a couple, Richard and Rachel, who are desperately trying to have a child after their natural processes fail. From IVF to adoption to artificial insemination- they try everything they can, but nothing seems to be working in their favor. They even go to the extent of asking Richard’s niece to donate her eggs for their artificial insemination. The process becomes so emotionally challenging for our protagonists at that point that they decide to give everything up.

While it is natural for any married couple to yearn for a child, this film teaches us that it is much more important to be happy yourself in whatever you wish to do in life. Many people have several desires that they run after throughout the day. In the process, what they don’t realize is that life slowly passes by without them even noticing it once. This is something we should never allow to happen to ourselves. You can stream the film here .

11. The Platform (2019)

Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, ‘The Platform’ is a social science fiction-horror film written by David Desola and Pedro Rivero. The Iván Massagué and Antonia San Juan starrer focuses on the inmates of a vertical prison where the ones living on the top level are fed level while the ones surviving on the levels below are hardly given enough food to get by. The situation naturally fuels envy and pits the inmates against one another. With each passing day, the starving criminals become more and more agitated, and the anger that builds up is only waiting to be unleashed. ‘The Platform’ looks at human nature by pushing people to their very limits by starving and isolating them. You can stream ‘The Platform’ here .

10. Forgive Us Our Debts (2018)

An Italian original film from Netflix, ‘Forgive Us Our Debts’ is directed and co-written by Antonio Morabito. The story of this film centers around one man who is bogged down by the amount of money he owes to various people and desperately wants to get out of the mess. Having no way out, he decides to start working as a debt collector for a loan shark. While signing up for the same, he did not even imagine the lows he would have to stoop to to carry out his job. This situation finds him getting into situations he always wanted out of in the first place. ‘Forgive Us Our Debts’ shows us that a deal with the devil is not a way out of any situation. Because once we sell off our honor, it is like selling off our souls. And from there, any escape is next to impossible. You can stream the film here .

9. 6 Balloons (2018)

A Netflix original film, ‘6 Balloons’ stars  Abbi Jacobson and Dave Franco as a brother-sister duo. The film starts with Katie (Jacobson) planning a surprise birthday party for his boyfriend Jack. When she goes to buy the cake, she also decides to pick up her brother Seth (Franco) for the party. Seth is a regular heroin user who needs to be admitted to a rehab center as soon as possible, but the two clinics where Abbi takes him turn them down. Getting more and more impatient, Seth says that he needs to get his hands on some heroin as soon as possible and even forces his sister to buy the drug for him. After quite some time, it dawns on Abbi that there is no use asking his brother to rectify himself unless he does not want it from the bottom of his heart. You can watch the movie here .

8. Dear Zindagi (2016)

‘Dear Zindagi’ is an Indian Hindi film starring Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan and directed by Gauri Shinde. The film addresses life’s philosophy from the POV of relationships. Kaira (Bhatt) is a cinematographer from Mumbai who gets bored with his boyfriend and gets involved with another guy. But when this guy goes and marries his ex, Kaira cannot handle it. The following events land her in her hometown of Goa, India, where she meets with psychologist Jehangir Khan (Khan). From here begins the discussions of her relationships, feelings, emotions, and philosophical questions and answers about life. You may watch the film here .

7. The Secret: Dare to Dream (2020)

Based on the 2006 worldwide best-selling self-help book ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne, ‘The Secret: Dare to Dream’ follows hardworking single mother Miranda Wells with three kids to care for. She also helps her boyfriend, Tucker, manage his seafood restaurant. One day, a stranger named Bray Johnson comes looking for Miranda with an envelope. While he clarifies that he has no intentions other than delivering the envelope, Miranda isn’t wholly assured. What is his secret? What’s there inside the envelope?

Things get complex when Miranda’s late husband Matt’s mother comes across a news article about Matt’s invention with Bray’s picture. The film brings together the daily struggles of life with an unseen force that guides us all, a force that we unknowingly control, which often brings us to strangers who have the answers to our questions. Directed by Andy Tennant, ‘The Secret: Dare to Dream’ stars Katie Holmes, Josh Lucas, Jerry O’Connell, and Celia Weston. You can watch it here .

6. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Described as “a fable about disobedience as a virtue,” ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,’ is a stop-motion animated reimagining of the classic story of the marionette magically brought to life to bring a smile to the grieving woodcarver Geppetto who lost his son Carlo during a bombing in the Great War in Italy. It will be a disservice to the tale and the movie if we reveal any more, but we must also tell you that it is tough to put into words what the movie is able to achieve, all thanks to animation, which del Toro has clearly stated isn’t a genre but a medium. Animation is cinema. Feel free to check out the movie here .

5. If Anything Happens I Love You (2020)

This movie proves just how effective a short can be despite its runtime. ‘If Anything Happens I Love You’ is a 12-minute-long animated short film written and directed by Will McCormack and Michael Govier. It tells the story of a grieving mother and father who have lost their little daughter in a tragedy. What kind of tragedy? Telling you would be depriving you of its effectiveness. All that we can say is that it has won the Best Animated Short Oscar at the 2021 Academy Awards. You can check out the film here .

4. A Man Called Otto (2022)

Directed by Marc Forster, ‘A Man Called Otto’ is the story of Otto ( Tom Hanks ), a grumpy old widower who lives alone. While the pain that comes with losing the person you loved the most and spent most of your life with can only be comprehended by those who have been through it, it is understandable, even if to a certain degree. Nothing would feel nice in such a world. However, Otto is sweetly ushered into their world when a family moves in next door. As expected, Otto isn’t able to cope with it in the beginning, but with time, things start to change. A small gesture, a quick smile, a wave, and a little hello slowly begin to affect Otto, positively changing him. If you want to know just what can happen if you treat people nicely, you can watch ‘A Man Called Otto’ here .

3. Queen (2014)

‘Queen’ is an Indian Hindi film directed by Vikas Bahl, wherein Rani Mehra (Kangana Ranaut) decides to go on her solo honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam after the groom cancels the wedding. He cites the reason that his abroad lifestyle won’t allow him to adjust to her conservative nature. While it seems overwhelming at first, the trip brings Rani face-to-face with herself and the world, making her realize just how more significant her life is than just her wedding. Sometimes it takes a no to realize the many yesses that are waiting for you. You can stream the film here and find out the yesses that come Rani’s way.

2. Three of Us (2022)

Directed by Avinash Arun, ‘Three of Us’ is an intimate and contemplative Indian Hindi-language drama that illuminates the fleeting nature of life and the urge of the human heart to return and relish what it once experienced. We have Shailaja, a married woman whose dementia brings her to her childhood hometown in Konkan to relive the special moments and perhaps liberate herself when she has the chance. This includes meeting her “person” from adolescence, Daga, AKA Pradeep Kamat (Jaideep Ahlawat), who also remembers her. Both are married to different people but the way they speak to each other serves as a reminder that they have moved on in their lives but still relish what they had when they were young.

The conversations between Shailaja and her husband, Dipankar (Swanand Kirkire), who doesn’t like Shailaja interacting with another man, and Pradeep and his wife, Sarika (Kadambari Kadam), who gives him the space to deal with the emotion, are equally thoughtful but not complicated and contribute to the overall narrative that flows like a breeze. The film was nominated for eight 2023 Filmfare Awards, out of which it won two. You can watch ‘Three of Us’ here .

1. The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

This heartwarming drama explores the sweet camaraderie between fisherman Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), who is on the run, and Zak (Zack Gottsagen), who has Down syndrome. They two bump into each other after Zak escapes from a care facility to track down his wrestling idol Salt Water Redneck. They are soon joined by Zak’s nurse, Eleanor (Dakota Johnson). The development of the friendship between Tyler and Zak becomes a feel-good yet tear-jerking commentary on the human bond that will remind you of your bonds. Directed by ‘Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz,’ ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’ can be streamed here .

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This topic is part of the Starting The Journey stage of the Spiritual Wanderer's Journey

21 Mind-Bending Movies That Make You Think Deeply

by Mateo · Updated: Aug 14, 2024 · 29 Comments

As humans, we have been telling stories since the beginning of time. Stories help us to understand important ideas and make sense of the world around us.

Stories are the fabric of our lives: our lives begin and end with a story. Each relationship in our life is a story, every dream, every experience is a story. Life itself is one big story composed of many smaller stories,  and every atom dancing is telling us its story.

It’s no surprise that we’ve fallen in love with movies: they perfectly embody stories. And stories can be powerful. We watch movies to find a sense of relief from our daily responsibilities, to experience excitement and intrigue, and to even feel our humanity again by letting them touch our hearts.

But films can also help us grow as individuals. They can encourage us to question our lives, to awaken to endless possibilities and help us to understand where we’re heading as a society. Most people are familiar with popular thought-provoking movies like The Matrix , Inception , Donnie Darko , Moon , V for Vendetta , Mulholland Dr. , Memento , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Fight Club .

There are also plenty of other movies out there that are just as thought-provoking but not as well known. These movies are obscure because they lacked big budgets and therefore couldn’t hire as many actors. But in this obscurity, these movies preserved their souls, and the artistic visions behind each film stayed intact without being influenced by the masses.

Here are some of the best little-known cryptic and mind-bending movies out there.

21 Mind-Bending Movies That Make You Think

Prepare to question everything you know!

By the way, if you do decide to watch any of the movies below by clicking on the links, you’ll be supporting our work through the small affiliate fees we receive. We appreciate your support. :)

1. Upstream Color (2013)

Description: A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: It’s a sensual experience of poetic ideas; modern disconnection, biophysical insecurity, and existential doubt.

Watch the movie here !

2. TiMER (2009)

Description: When implanted in a person’s wrist, a TiMER counts down to the day the wearer finds true love. But Oona O’Leary faces the rare dilemma of a blank TiMER. Her soul mate – whoever and wherever he is – has yet to have a TiMER implanted. Staring down the barrel of thirty and tired of waiting for her would-be life partner to get off the dime, Oona breaks her own rules and falls for Mikey, a charming and inappropriately young supermarket clerk with a countdown of four months.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: If a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate , would you want to know?

Watch the movie here!

3. Coherence (2013)

Description: On the night an astronomical anomaly passes close to the Earth, eight friends at a dinner party start experiencing strange and mysterious events. Soon it becomes clear that nothing and no one are what they appear to be.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: It explores the physics concept of Schrodinger’s Cat , and forces the question of whether we truly know what we’re capable of.

5. Primer (2004)

Description: While tweaking their current project, two young engineers accidentally discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities – ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  What do you want when you can have anything? And if you have everything, what do you do?

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6. Frequencies (2013)

Description: What if physics determined the laws of attraction? In a parallel world where human frequencies determine luck, love, and destiny, Zak, a young college student, must overcome science in order to love Marie, who emits a different frequency than his own. In an attempt to make their love a reality, Zak experiments on the laws of nature, putting in danger the cosmic equilibrium of fate and everything he holds dear.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: Are human conditions, actions, relationships determined by fate, free will, or a combination of both? At any rate, if it we cannot control it – should we care?

7. Waking Life (2001)

Description: A boy has a dream that he can float, but unless he holds on, he will drift away into the sky. Even when grows up, this idea recurs. After a strange accident, he walks through what may be a dream, flowing in and out of scenarios and encountering various characters. People he meets discuss science, philosophy and the life of dreaming and waking. The protagonist gradually becomes alarmed that he cannot awake from this confusing dream.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: What if you gradually become aware that you are walking through life in a dream state, but could not wake up from this confusing dream?

8. Extracted (2012)

Description: A scientist invents a technique to enter people’s memories deep within their subconscious mind when it is in its most vulnerable state. When he is tasked with entering a heroin addict mind who is a convicted criminal to see whether he committed murder, the scientist is faced with his most dangerous and risky memory extraction ever.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: How far is too deep into the darkness of another’s unconscious mind?

9. Open Your Eyes (1997)

Description: A once handsome playboy, César finds himself in a mental facility and can’t remember why. All he can remember is meeting the love of his life for one day, and then getting into a car accident which left his face horribly disfigured. But the pain of becoming physically undesirable may help him to find the truth.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: Where does reality end and fantasy begin?

10. I Origins (2014)

Description: Dr. Ian Gray, a molecular biologist is studying the evolution of the eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab partner Karen, they make a stunning scientific discovery that has far reaching implications and complicates both his scientific and spiritual beliefs. Traveling half way around the world, he risks everything he has ever known to validate his theory.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: Which is right, science or faith, chance or destiny?

11. The Congress (2013)

Description: More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal made with her loyal agent, her alias will be controlled by the studio, and will star in any film they want with no restrictions. In return, she receives healthy compensation so she can care for her ailing son and her digitized character will stay forever young. Twenty years later, under the creative vision of the studio’s head animator, Wright’s digital double rises to immortal stardom. With her contract expiring, she is invited to take part in “The Congress” convention as she makes her comeback straight into the world of future fantasy cinema.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie is a dystopian political story exploring the ideas of ageism in Hollywood and the soullessness of digital life.

12. Predestination (2014)

Description: A Temporal Agent is sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: It’s an elegant study of the human self-identity.

13. The Frame (2014)

Description: Two strangers find their lives colliding in an impossible way. Alex is a methodical cargo thief working for a dangerous cartel. Sam is a determined paramedic trying to save the world while running from her past. Suddenly and mysteriously, Alex and Sam’s lives crash into each other and the fabric of reality is ripped from underneath their feet. Taking on the very root of fate, destiny, and their own existence, Alex and Sam race through a maze of an ever-changing universe while being pursued by a demonic man determined to erase the world.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: What if you could re-write the script that life has handed you and create something much more beautiful?

14. 2046 (2004)

Description: A writer works on a novel about a mysterious train that leaves for a place called 2046 every once in a while. Everyone who boards that train has the same intention – which is to recapture their lost memories. It is said that in 2046, nothing ever changed. Nobody knows for sure if it was true, because nobody who went there had ever come back – except for one person. This person had been there but he chose to leave. He wanted to change.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  How does a memory dictate the way you live your life?

15. Under the Skin (2013)

Description: A mysterious woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie is a darkly captivating exploration of identity, normality and otherness.

16. Another Earth (2011)

Description: On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie is a meditation on the infinite possible variations that a human life can take; it sparks the brain and moves the heart.

17. Enter The Void (2009)

Description:  Oscar is a heavy drug user who lives in colorful Tokyo, and his sister Linda is a stripper. Having constant traumatic flashbacks from childhood from drug-induced hallucinations, Oscar is eventually shot by the police. After they shoot him, he floats above his body and observes life: his sister’s sorrow, the rooms in a hotel, and even life at a molecular level.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie is an astonishing trip through life, death, and the universally wonderful and horrible moments between. Is there an afterlife?

18. Robot & Frank (2012)

Description: Set in the near future, Frank, a retired cat burglar, has two grown kids who are concerned that he can no longer live alone. They are tempted to place him in a nursing home until Frank’s son chooses a different option. Against Frank’s wishes, his son buys him a walking, talking humanoid robot programmed to improve his physical and mental health.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie is a light exploration of aging, dementia and the humanist potential of technology.

19. Exam (2012)

Description: Shown into a windowless examination room, eight candidates have reached the final stage of selection for a prestigious job at a mysterious corporation. There is one question before them and one answer is required. If they try to speak to the armed guard by the door they will be disqualified. If they leave the room for any reason they will be disqualified. If they spoil their papers they will be disqualified. As the clock ticks down, they must figure out what the company expects of them.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: How far are we prepared to go to secure the ultimate job?

20. The Machine (2013)

Description: Two computer programmers fall in love as they create the first-ever piece of self-aware artificial intelligence, designed to help humanity. But things go terribly wrong when the British Government steals their breakthrough and teaches it to become a robotic weapon.

Why It’s Thought Provoking:  This movie raises interesting questions regarding A.I technology that is becoming ever more present in our world. How will artificial intelligence impact our lives?

21. The Nines (2007)

Description: Gary, an actor who plays a cop on television, burns his ex-girlfriend’s things, then he drinks and drives, uses crack, and crashes his car. Sobering up in jail, Gary is placed under house arrest by the watchful eye of a cheery and tough-minded woman called Margaret. She moves him into the empty house of a writer who’s away in Canada. There, Gary meets Sarah, an attractive and seemingly-willing neighbor. As his friendship with Margaret blooms, strange things begin to happen: he finds notes that he doesn’t remember writing, he hears noises, and he seems to bump into himself in the kitchen. Two remaining chapters reveal what’s going on.

Why It’s Thought Provoking: Alternately funny and unsettling, this movie is like a riddle where the answer is the question: “How does it all add up?”

Watch these movies and let me know what you think! You’re new favorite movie might just be in this list.

Are there any movies that make you think that I haven’t mentioned here? Comment below and let me know.

Whenever you feel the call, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Need "big picture" direction, clarity, and focus? Our Spiritual Wanderer course is a crystallization of 10+ years of inner work, and it can help you find your deepest path and purpose in life as a spiritual wanderer. You get 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, a premium test, and more!.

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About Mateo

Mateo is a spiritual educator, guide, entrepreneur, and co-founder of one of the most influential and widely read spiritual websites on the internet. Born into a family with a history of drug addiction and mental illness, he was taught about the plight of the human condition from a young age. His mission is to help others experience freedom, wholeness, and peace in all stages of life. [Read More]

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There doesn’t seem to be a movie #4????  😕 

It’s not a movie but tales from the loop is an amazing t.v series.

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10 Movies on Netflix That Will Absolutely Blow Your Mind

April 12, 2024

Thought-Provoking is a mood on agoodmovietowatch, it is one of our favorites because there is nothing like walking out of a movie feeling to have grown up intellectually during it. Below we count down our most favorite thought-provoking and mind-bending movies, you can browse all our suggestion moods here.

agoodmovietowatch, as its name indicates, only suggests good movies. To do that we pick highly-acclaimed movies by both critics and viewers, then narrow them down to the ones that didn’t make a huge splash at the box office or which didn’t get the attention they deserved. This way we can suggest movies you will love, but haven’t watched yet.

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1. Fruitvale Station (2013)

This is the true story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Black man in Oakland, California, who was shot dead by police in the morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009. Incidentally, 2009 was also the time when smartphones started going mainstream, and so the incident was not only captured by CCTV but also many private cell phone cameras. The murder went viral.

Grant is superbly played by Michael B. Jordan in what now counts as one of his breakthrough roles, when many only knew him as Wallace in the now-legendary crime drama The Wire. Director Ryan Coogler went on making two more movies with him, including Black Panther in 2018.

Produced by Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker and compassionately told, Fruitvale Station surpasses the sadness of its subject matter and amounts to an extraordinary celebration of life. A must-watch.

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2. Captain Fantastic (2016)

Former activists Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Leslie drop out from modern consumerist society to raise their six children in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. They teach them how to raise and kill their own food, to survive in nature through boot-camp-like workouts, and homeschool them in literature, music, and left-wing philosophy. Instead of Christmas, they celebrate Noam Chomsky’s birthday. Then, one day, this unusual family life is shaken by a phone call and they are forced to leave their life of adventure to reintegrate into American life.

Directed by Matt Ross, who also brought you Good Night, and Good Luck, the film offers a poignant look at alternative living, the effects of modern technology, and the nature of good parenting. Viggo Mortensen is indeed fantastic as the grizzled father and was rightly nominated for a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Actor. George MacKay and the entire cast of “children” also deliver terrific performances. As emotionally raw and thought-provoking as it is funny, Captain Fantastic will have the viewer decide if Ben Cash is the best father in the world or the worst.

3. Icarus (2017)

Director Bryan Fogel, who you might know as the guy behind Jewtopia, initially set out to chronicle his exploration of doping to win an amateur cycling race. He starts off by reaching out to experts to help him with obtaining and administering said drugs, one of which points him towards Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory. Rodchenkov eagerly agrees to help him out.

Little did he know that his Russian acquaintance would transform Fogel film from a self-experiment documentary into a true-crime political thriller, when the scientist admits to being involved in a state-sponsored doping scheme of epic proportions on camera. Putin is obviously not amused.

Aside from all the madness that unfolds in this Netflix production, it’s Rodchenkov’s likeable and eccentric personality that makes the story more relatable and human as well as giving you a rare glimpse into the upper echelons of a country like Russia. As the plot thickens, one can’t help but think that Fogel too is in over his head. Rightly award-winning, this is gripping stuff even if you’re not into sports!

4. Wind River (2017)

Phenomenal and heartbreaking, Wind River is a true masterpiece by Taylor Sheridan, the man behind Sicario and Hell or High Water. In a Native American Reservation, a local girl is found dead and a young detective (Elizabeth Olsen) tries to uncover the mystery. She is accompanied by a tracker (Jeremy Renner) with his own dark history in the community. It’s not a very rewarding movie at first, so don’t expect an incredibly fast-paced story from the get-go. However, when everything unfolds, it’s not only action-packed, its reflections on indigenous communities are deep and poignant. How this remains a relatively known movie is shocking, it has to be one of the best mysteries of the past 20 years.

5. Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton (2017)

After his first serious role in The Truman Show in 1998, Jim Carrey got a shot at playing his idol, the late comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufmann, in Man on the Moon in 1999. When he got the role, a role of a lifetime, Carrey decided to honor Kaufmann’s legacy by transforming into him (and his alter ego Tony Clifton) and, in true method-acting fashion, never to leave character. Jim & Andy is the result of 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage shot at the Man on the Moon set, which was withheld for 20 years over fears of Universal Studios that people would think Carrey was an a**hole. While Carrey was a complete and utter imposition to the film’s director, Miloš Forman, and everybody else on set, including Danny DeVito, his transformation (or obsession) was a unique, transformative experience for Carrey, who had been sick of fame and acting before he took on this gig. Whether you buy into this view or see it as a vanity piece of a complete maniac, this is one of the most unique and insane documentaries on Netflix. A mind-blowing portrayal of a complex mind.

6. The Look of Silence (2015)

A follow-up/companion piece to the award-winning The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence is another compelling documentary from Director Joshua Oppenheimer. Both films aim attention at the Indonesian Genocide of 1965-66, when the military government systematically purged up to one million communists. While the first film’s focus was on the culprits and on providing facts, the second one lets us meet the victims. One victim in particular: a soft-spoken optician named Adi Rukun, who meets with various members of the death squad who murdered his elder brother Ramli, under the guise of giving them an eye test. As he questions them about the killings, the murderers, again, show little remorse and eagerly provide the lurid details to the many executions. It’s a stunning and provocative look at the legacy of historical mass killings, along with the insidious propaganda that provokes them, and continues to justify them to younger generations. A testament to the power of cinema to remember the forgotten.

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7. On Body and Soul (2017)

On Body and Soul is the impeccably crafted winner of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival and an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. Is it possible that two people dream the same dream? And meet each other in that same dream? This unique drama directed by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi studies this possibility against the unlikely backdrop of a slaughterhouse. Middle-aged, inconspicuous manager Endre (Géza Morcsányi) can’t help but noticing a new girl at work, Maria (Alexandra Borbély), the abattoir’s new hygiene manager. They fall in love, but not, as you might suspect, during a fateful mandatory hygiene inspection, but in their dreams—in the shape of two deer in a mysterious, snow-covered forest. The Hungarian director had taken an 18-year break from making movies, which was probably the prerequisite for making something as striking and unconventional as On Body and Soul.

8. Blackfish (2013)

Orcas killing people? Saving whales? There was indeed a time when these issues were frontpage news and that might be the reason why this sounds like a 90s cliché to you. You might agree that this issue should be staunchly dealt with once you’ve watched Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s 2013 documentary. Orcas still being held captive by marine parks like SeaWorld to perform stunts and to parade around swimming pools to entertain ticket-buying families. Blackfish is the story of one of them in particular: a bull Orca named Tilikum, who has killed several people as a result of their immoral imprisonment. Similar incidents tend to be covered up by the parks’ operators and management. They are, however, attributable to the fact that the animals are quiet simply driven mad by the unnatural conditions they are subjected to. They are not born as killers, they are turned into them. First-hand accounts by former whale trainers and experts deliver fascinating truths about Tilikum and the species as whole, elaborating on their remarkable intelligence and social behaviors. For those unaware of this, this passionate documentary makes for a chilling watch.

9. The Edge of Democracy (2019)

In this powerful documentary, Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa intertwines her own family history with the democratic journey of her home country. As she says herself, Costa and her country’s democracy are of the same age. This is not the only reason why she was uniquely positioned to make a film like this: her parents were left-wing activists in the 1970s, who went to jail for their beliefs, while her grandparents were part of the ruling class have made Brazil’s strong-man politics and right-wing backlash possible. Her mother was held at the same prison that ex-president Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) was sent to. Costa tells the story of Rousseff’s demise as well as that of Luiz Inácio da Silva (2003-2011) aka Lula, whose future remains up in the air. The Edge of Democracy is thus a gripping and urgent warning that democracy in the world’s sixth most populous country is under attack. In content and form, Costa is obviously opinionated, but she makes a strong point.

10. System Crasher (2019)

While quite testing for viewers, this is one of the craziest, most high-energy movies you’ll ever watch. In this incredible German drama, child actor Helena Zengel plays Bernadette aka Benni, a traumatized 9-year-old child who tends to lash out and has been repeatedly suspended from every school she went to. Benni is a so-called “Systemsprenger” (which is the original German title). A system crasher is a child so uncontrollable and aggressive that, over time, she falls through the grid of special schools, foster care, and social work facilities. Despite the best efforts of her designated social worker, Frau Bafané, played by Gabriela Maria Schmeide, she is turned down by everyone, testing the patience of her surroundings, wherever she goes. A trip with Micha (Albrecht Schuch), a tough boxer and anger-management trainer, turns out to be the last resort. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, System Crasher is intense, punky, and wild with an almost eerie sense of authenticity. Its devastating effect is helped along by its unique, hyperactive camerawork. Much like the social workers themselves, you might have a hard time keeping professional distance to all this. This intense drama will stay with you for a long time.

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In the press materials for “Critical Thinking,” producer Carla Berkowitz drops this line about her reaction to reading the true story that inspired the film: “The image and story was haunting and I felt like I had a quantum shift in my perception of chess and who plays it.” The who in question are five Miami-area Black and Latino men who, along with their teacher, Mr. Martinez, brought back to their underprivileged Florida neighborhood the U.S. National Chess Championship. This happened in 1998. The film chronicles the loving camaraderie of the players and the events leading up to their victory.

In that same press release, acclaimed writer and actor John Leguizamo , who plays Martinez and also directs, states that he wanted to make this film because there were very few representations of Latin people on-screen when he was growing up. He also mentioned that the book The Bell Curve  harmfully depicted people of color as being mentally inferior due to our genetics. I wondered if, like me, Leguizamo grew up in an environment where the Black and brown people he knew played chess, so that it wouldn’t seem unusual nor an anomaly that they did. Because Berkowitz’s statement really made me consider what exactly the standard issue chess player was supposed to look like.

Chess has appeared in a lot of movies, from Boaz Yakin ’s “ Fresh ” to Steven Zaillian ’s “Searching for Bobby Fisher” to 2016’s superb Mira Nair film, “ Queen of Katwe .” I even remember it being prevalent in a crappy Gary Coleman TV movie about a smart Black kid. The game always carries the same symbolic qualifier: the person who plays it has a mental capacity for strategy and is intelligent. Chess is often employed to teach life lessons in these movies, to the point where it has become a cliché that just so happens to be used differently depending on who’s playing it. This difference is something that I admit often sticks in my craw, so I found myself wrestling a bit with this movie even though it seemed to be addressing my concern.

Unlike Zaillian’s film, which I guess answers my question of what a “standard issue” chess player is supposed to look like, the protagonists in the other films I’ve mentioned, and in “Critical Thinking,” are people of color whose economical circumstances are far from ideal. This tends to be the model when minorities are seen playing chess in films, which bends the cinematic chess player cliché toward making the ability to play the game the audience’s reason to offer empathy. Sure, they’re broke, probably in crime-ridden areas and may even do a crime or two, but see, they’re smart, so it’s OK to feel for them! This line of thinking has to do with who stereotypically plays chess and who does not.

Leguizamo’s Mr. Martinez speaks to this early in “Critical Thinking” by asking why chess is never associated with brown people despite a Latin man playing a major role in its evolution. “Why don’t you think we know about him?” he asks the students in his critical thinking class before delivering a great, pointed monologue that speaks about how history is taught in schools. The script by Dito Montiel has some sharp commentary about the education system, from what gets funded to the over-reliance on test scores to the differences between Martinez’s inner city school and the posh preppy institutions who fall victim to our heroes on the tournament circuit. There’s a bit more bite than you may be expecting, and the writing is just prickly enough to balance out the moments when the film dives headfirst into its tropes. And there are numerous tropes to swim in; not only is this a sports movie, it’s also an entry in the “Beloved Teacher” genre.

Our chess champion team is comprised of Sedrick Roundtree ( Corwin C. Tuggles ), Ito Paniagua (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), Gil Luna ( Will Hochman ), Rodelay Medina (Angel Curiel) and later, Marcel Martinez ( Jeffry Batista ) who joins the team after dispensing a hustler’s ass-whipping in a speed chess match. Their dialogue is peppered with the language the PG-13 won’t allow but realism will. Martinez is often telling them “watch your mouth” in his class, even if, in his less guarded moments, he’s prone to occasional profanity. Leguizamo gets good performances from each of them, especially in moments where you really feel the bond between teammates, both in the tournaments and in the streets. When they tell each other that they’ve got each other’s backs, there’s a real emotional pull that emanates straight from the actors.

Though this is an inspirational movie, Leguizamo and Montiel never sugarcoat the dangers of the environment their characters inhabit. The potential for violence, temporary homelessness, crime, and police harassment are always hovering in the margins, sometimes even invading the safe space of Martinez’s class or the school. An early sequence that shockingly ends in violence shows how good Leguizamo is at quickly establishing the audience’s tie to a character. When Rivera (Dre C) is thrown into critical thinking class after a disciplinary problem (“my class is not detention!” Martinez yells at frenemy Principal Kesler [ Rachel Bay Jones ]), he immediately runs afoul of Ito. Rivera’s lack of response is due to Spanish being his primary language, which may also have something to do with the infraction that got him sent to this class. Martinez talks to him in Spanish, lectures Ito and all seems well.

Rivera is then brutally assassinated in broad daylight after accidentally bumping into another person on the street. The film is barely 15 minutes old when this happens, but it immediately establishes that “Critical Thinking” has no plans of abandoning reality for its feel-good message. That sense of realism extends to the way the characters bond with, rib, and defend each other. Additionally, Leguizamo plays Martinez as someone who understands the temptations and frustrations of his students’ world. He challenges them to do for themselves because he knows all too well that the system has no intention of lending a helping hand.

Like Nair does in “Queen of Katwe,” Leguizamo also blatantly refuses to impose on poverty any notions of shame or requests for pity. “Chess is the great equalizer,” Martinez tells his team as they navigate snooty tournament heads and appearances against challengers from much posher ‘hoods. Even when things get expectedly dire for some of the characters, “Critical Thinking” remains focused on the characters’ response to the situation, never once stripping them of their dignity for cheap emotional manipulation.

Of all the team members, Sedrick has the most detailed arc. He has a girlfriend, Chanayah ( Zora Casebere ), who is supportive and tougher than she looks, and a father ( Michael Kenneth Williams ) whose sole job here is to fill that chess movie trope of the angry guy who uses chess as a means of brutal domination. Williams is an always welcome presence, but I could have done without him. Still, there is one very good moment where he shows some growth, and his son makes a snide comment that he silently acknowledges as being right.

The chess scenes are good even if you know nothing about chess. I’ve been playing since I was five, so of course I wanted more detailed representations than Leguizamo provides. I found his classroom lessons and the team’s banter about moves fascinating, and every time I was given a good look at a chessboard, I got closer to the screen to investigate. And yet, despite its acknowledgement of my aforementioned issues, I still felt a little itchy watching “Critical Thinking.” I am always game for a movie that makes me reckon with my personal feelings and biases, and I’m glad this one exists because representation will always speak volumes. If nothing else, “Critical Thinking” reminds you what a chess player can look like.

Odie Henderson

Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire  here .

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Film credits.

Critical Thinking (2020)

117 minutes

John Leguizamo as Mario Martinez

Rachel Bay Jones as Principal Kestel

Michael Kenneth Williams as Mr. Roundtree

Corwin C. Tuggles as Sedrick Roundtree

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Ito Paniagua

Angel Bismark Curiel as Rodelay Medina

Will Hochman as Gil Luna

Jeffry Batista as Marcel Martinez

Zora Casebere as Chanayah

• John Leguizamo
• Dito Montiel

Cinematographer

• Zach Zamboni
• Jamie Kirkpatrick
• Chris Hajian

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8 twisted, mind-bending movies now streaming on Netflix

By mads lennon | jul 21, 2023.

Sometimes all you want to do is relax and have your mind blown by a movie. From films like Inception to Shutter Island to Donnie Darko , there are countless mind-bending movies out there. Luckily for us, Netflix has several available, including a brand new film starring John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx!

Psychological thrillers are some of my favorite films to watch because they keep me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. If you’re eager to find something exciting on Netflix, the following list will assist you.

Best mind-bending movies on Netflix

Below we’ve compiled several of the best mind-bending movies on Netflix. Several movies listed below are Netflix Original films, meaning they won’t leave the platform anytime soon. Still, there are a few listed below that Netflix is just licensing for now, meaning you’ll want to prioritize those before they eventually leave.

If you’re looking for a genuinely confounding movie, look no further than the 2020 Irish sci-fi/horror film Vivarium starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots. Eisenberg and Poots play a young couple who have recently moved into a new housing development where every unit is identical.

When they try to escape the labyrinth-like neighborhood, they find every road they travel leads them back to the start. You might not get every answer from this movie, and it’ll certainly leave you scratching your head more than once, but Vivarium is still an intriguing story with novel ideas.

They Cloned Tyrone

This is the newest Netflix Original movie on this list and one of the best! They Cloned Tyrone is a zany sci-fi caper film starring John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx as a trio of friends who uncover a government cloning conspiracy.

Annihilation

Based on Jeff Vandermeer’s excellent Southern Reach trilogy, Annihilation is a trippy sci-fi film with horror elements that follows a group of female scientists as they venture into an anomalous region known as the “Shimmer,” a subsection of the earth slowly mutating the living beings within.

Lena, a biologist played by Natalie Portman, puts her name forth for the next expedition into the Shimmer after her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) is the only one to return from a previous trip into the area.

Upon returning, Kane is unable to recall what happened on the expedition, and his condition quickly deteriorates. Hoping to find something that can save Kane, Lena volunteers for the next trip into the Shimmer, but she and her fellow scientists are unprepared for what they’ll find inside.

The Platform

A captivating and twisted dystopian thriller, The Platform is a Spanish film that revolves around a tower-like prison complex with multiple floors. Prisoners are fed via a moving platform that starts at the top and slowly descends downward. Those on the top floor get the platform first and are free to eat as much as they want before it starts to move down, each floor receiving less than those above it. Prisoners are randomly moved around to different floors every 30 days.

Alison Brie stars in this strange and surreal movie about a seemingly sweet girl with a horse obsession who starts experiencing weird dreams that slowly shift her perception of reality. It’s a very unusual movie anchored by Brie’s solid performance.

Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan lead this sci-fi thriller about a pair of best friends and paramedics who are called to work on a series of bizarre accidents. They trace it back to a mysterious new drug found at the scene, but when a loved one disappears, the duo falls into a terrifying truth about the psychedelic that could change everything they know about reality. Synchronic is not a Netflix original but is currently available to stream.

In the Shadow of the Moon

Michael C. Hall goes from playing a serial killer himself to hunting one in this 2019 sci-fi thriller film. In the Shadow of the Moon revolves around a detective hunting for an elusive female serial killer in Philadelphia in 1988. When Detective Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) realizes the killer’s crimes defy all explanation, his obsession threatens to unravel everything.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Like many movies on this list, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a surreal psychological thriller. It’s also one of the more notable Netflix Original films when it comes to mind-bending flicks. With an all-star cast that includes Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, and David Thewlis, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a must-watch.

Based on the novel of the same name by Iain Reid, the movie follows a young woman traveling with her boyfriend to visit his parents. At the same time, the story of a janitor going to work intercuts the narrative before both stories intersect in the third act.

Which of these mind-bending movies on Netflix, do you plan to watch next?

Next. Best horror movies on Netflix. dark

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‘Critical Thinking’ Review: All the Right Moves

John Leguizamo directs and stars in this warmhearted drama about underprivileged teenagers who enter a national chess championship.

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By Jeannette Catsoulis

Whether championing math, poetry, or just how to be a decent human being , the inspirational teacher is as familiar to movie audiences as the class stoner. “Critical Thinking” does little to detach itself from genre cliché; yet this heartfelt drama about a rough-and-tumble group of high-schoolers who claw their way to a national chess tournament has a sweetness that softens its flaws.

Based on a true story and set in an underserved Miami neighborhood in 1998, the movie drops us into the boisterous classroom of Mr. Martinez (played by the director, John Leguizamo).

“Chess is the great equalizer,” he tells his multiethnic students, using the game to teach his critical thinking elective — with a side of racial history discouraged by his school board. The principal (Rachel Bay Jones) might treat his classroom like a dumping ground for miscreants, but Martinez, assisted by wigs and funny accents, explains complicated chess moves with a deftness that cuts through their indifference.

With goals as modest as the lives of its characters, “Critical Thinking” follows the predictable arc of the underdog drama as the chess team overcomes troubled home situations and other setbacks on the road to a Beverly Hills-set finale. Slow and straightforward, the movie knows that a chess match is hardly a barnburner; but its lively young performers and their eventual triumph are easy to warm to. Drugs and gangs might beckon — and immigration officers hover just outside the frame — but they’re no match for the values of sportsmanship and teamwork. And Mr. Martinez’s pep talks.

Critical Thinking Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch through virtual cinemas, or rent or buy on iTunes , Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.